Evans, a guest analyst, said as much during the post-UFC on FUEL TV 5 show on Saturday night, and he then gave further details on Twitter.

Teixeira initially was slated to fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the pay-per-view co-headliner of UFC 153, which takes place Oct. 13 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. However, Jackson dropped off the card due to an injury, and the UFC offered the opening to a handful of fighters who turned it down. Fabio Maldonado ultimately stepped up and took the fight on about three weeks’ notice.

Evans, who hasn’t fought since a failed bid to take Jon Jones’ light-heavyweight title in April, said he would have taken the UFC 153 fight if he would have had more prep time. As he stated on Twitter:

I will fight anybody with the proper notice.. But after 8yrs with the UFC & being one of their top earners. Y would I take a bad fight?! Bad fight meaning not being in shape. Losing is hard enough but I will never serve myself up! If I’m haven’t been training I won’t fight!I know alot of u fans may not realize but I don’t walk around ready 2 fight. No one does. In this sport it takes at least 8wks 2 b ready! Fighting another person is much harder than most ppl think & if im not training it takes time 2 get ready. There r no easy fights!

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, officials are now targeting ex-champ Evans (17-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) for a December or January return, though no specific event or opponent has been determined. Evans flirted with the idea of a move to middleweight but now is expected to remain at light heavyweight.